Sony CyberShot DSC-W300 Reviews: Digital Compact Camera

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78 Real Customer Reviews - In Summary

+ This digital camera scores high on performance. - It has no outstanding negative points. “Ease of use.” Anonymous verified purchaser View all 78 real customer reviews

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Product Details

2.7" Screen, 3x optical zoom, Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo storage More »

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Real customer reviews

78 verified purchasers have reviewed this product.
98% of people recommend it.

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All purchasers (78)

Build Quality	9.4
Compatibility	9.0
Ease of use	9.0
Features	9.1
Image quality	9.5
Performance	9.8
Value for money (at time of purchase)	9.1
Overall rating	9.4

Point & shoot (7)

Keen amateur (6)

Experienced amateur (3)

Other (62)

*not all purchasers provided a score or review

Anonymous verified purchaser , “Keen amateur”

Score 9.0/10

+ Good number of features in small format camera and solid build.

- Selection of functions takes some learning - could be a bit more intuitive. The selection wheel doesn't feel all that robust. It feels as if it could be an early failure point.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 03 Apr 2009

Anonymous verified purchaser , “Keen amateur”

Score 10.0/10

+ Everything.
I upgraded from a Sony 4.1mp camera, I was torn between this camera and a Samsung one that was cheaper. I'm so please I stayed with Sony. I did a lot of research, there wasn't many reviews as it's a fairly new camera, and sells out quickly, but the reivews I found all said it was great. It's a fantastic camera and was a voted the best mid price range camera by The Gadget Show.

- None at all.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 30 Apr 2009

Josh, Preston , “Keen amateur”

Score 10.0/10

+ The Sony W300 is an excellent camera. The image quality is great, the amount of features is great and the camera was pretty easy to use with all settings. It has the best UI I have seen on a camera as it sets it out in a logical and simple way so that anyone can use it! The flash is amazing!! I took the camera into a pitch black room and took a random picture and it came out looking like the room had normal lighting in it. It is a very natural looking flash and does not have a huge white reflection as some of my previous cameras have had.

- The pictures don't look like the 13.6MP shots they are meant to be, they look a little soft in some lights.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

purchased 13 May 2009

John, Birchington , “Keen amateur”

Score 9.0/10

+ Nice compact camera that provides the needs of my camera use.

- Reviewer left no comment

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purchased 15 Apr 2009

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Expert reviews for Sony CyberShot DSC-W300

PC Advisor expert review - by Neil Bennett, Digital Arts"

Sony's Cyber-shot DSC-W300 is a pocket-sized camera that offers one of best balances of size, performance and ease-of-use we've seen.

This Sony CyberShot DSC-W300 review continued on PC Advisor

reviewed 30 Jun 2008

Product Features

Camera Type	Compact
There are 2 main types of camera: The SLR and the Compact. SLR stands for Single Lens Reflex. SLR cameras use a prism to reflect the exact image as seen through the lens and so offers a more accurate viewfinder. SLR cameras have detachable lenses offering greater flexibility if you wish to take a variety of different photographs. Compact cameras have a built in lens and an ‘above lens’ viewfinder which is less accurate but they are often cheaper, more sleekly designed and easier to carry anywhere with you to capture that moment perfectly without having to fiddle with complex settings or a bag full of lenses.
resolution (Megapixel)	13.6

Optical Zoom Ratio	3
The amount by which the camera optics (lens) can bring the subject closer.
Screen Size in Inches	2.7
Screen size is measured diagonally from corner to corner.
Digital Zoom Ratio	6
Not to be confused with optical zoom, digital zoom enlarges a portion of the image thus simulating optical zoom. In doing so, some image quality is lost.
Face Recognition	Yes
A function for automatically detecting peoples faces and correctly adjusting the focus and exposure to take the best photo
Image Stabilisation	Yes
If a photo is taken at a slow shutter speed, or at a long focal length, the effects of ‘hand shake’ will be amplified. Some cameras come with built-in image stabilisation which is designed to act against this to produce sharper images. It’s great for low light shots without a tripod, like at a gig.
Image Stabilisation	Optical Image Stabiliser
If a photo is taken at a slow shutter speed, or at a long focal length, the effects of ‘hand shake’ will be amplified. Some cameras come with built-in image stabilisation which is designed to act against this to produce sharper images. It’s great for low light shots without a tripod, like at a gig.
Colour	Black
The main colour of the product.
Memory Card Slot	Yes
Having a memory card slot allows you to save data to a memory card and then transfer it to another device. For example you may put a photo from your camera or mobile phone onto a memory card and then plug it into your printer to print directly. Memory card slots come in many formats: Compact Flash Card Memory Stick Duo Micro SD Card MMC SD Card SDHC Card
Media Format	Memory Stick Duo
This is the type of storage that your digital camera or camcorder uses to save images to. The main types of card media format: Compact Flash Micro SD MMC (Multi Media Card) SD Card (Secure Digital) SDHC (Secure Disk High Capacity)
Media Format	Memory Stick PRO Duo
This is the type of storage that your digital camera or camcorder uses to save images to. The main types of card media format: Compact Flash Micro SD MMC (Multi Media Card) SD Card (Secure Digital) SDHC (Secure Disk High Capacity)
Media Format	Memory Stick PRO Duo High Speed
This is the type of storage that your digital camera or camcorder uses to save images to. The main types of card media format: Compact Flash Micro SD MMC (Multi Media Card) SD Card (Secure Digital) SDHC (Secure Disk High Capacity)
Media Format	Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo
This is the type of storage that your digital camera or camcorder uses to save images to. The main types of card media format: Compact Flash Micro SD MMC (Multi Media Card) SD Card (Secure Digital) SDHC (Secure Disk High Capacity)
PictBridge	Yes
An industry standard allowing images to be printed from camera to printer, without needing a computer. CIPA PictBridge Standard Website
Macro Mode	Yes
This mode allows close-up photograpy of small objects such as insects and flowers.
Video Recorder	Yes
Video recording functionality allows the capture of videos in mpeg or avi format which is great if you want to capture a whole scene, not just one moment.
Manual Focus	No
Almost all modern cameras have autofocus. Manual focus allows you to override the autofocus and set the distance yourself. This is especially useful if your camera is struggling to focus in a low-light or confusing scene.
Timer	Yes
Having a timer function is essential if you want to get into the shot yourself. Make sure your camera has this feature if you plan to go on holiday and capture photos of you and your friends or family having fun together.
Under Water	No
An under water feature means your camera is safe to dive with, usually between 3 and 5 metres. Most dSLR cameras will require expensive separate housing so consider investing in a waterproof digital compact first.
Dimensions (mm)	59x94.3x26.8
The size of the device in millimetres, in width x height x depth.
Weight (g)	156
The weight of the product in grams.
Flash	Yes
Whether or not your camera has an in-built flash. Flashes are essential for fully capturing a low light image.
Resolution (Pixels)	4224x3168
A camera sensor, that captures the photograph, is measured in pixels. The number given here is the horizontal amount of pixels followed by the vertical quantity of pixels. The more pixels a camera sensor has, the bigger and higher quality the image will be.
Shortest Shutter Speed	1/2000
This is the fastest speed at which the camera can take a photo. Faster shutter speeds really freeze the action and are great for sports photography.
Longest Shutter Speed	4"
This is the longest exposure your camera will take. The longer you take a photo for, the more light is let in and the more motion is captured. Long shutter speeds can give fantastic, artistic results. Try photographing the night sky at 30s or longer to see how the rotation of the Earth causes the stars to curve through the scene.
Max. Aperture Lens 1	f2.8-5.5
Measured in f-stops the aperture of a lens dictates the maximum amount of light captured. If you want to do low light photography look for something with a wide aperture like f2.8. The widest aperture is given as a range as it changes when your lens is zoomed in.
Filter Diameter (mm) Lens 1	74
If you want to protect your camera or camcorder lens from getting scratched you will need a filter. A filter screws on to the front of the lens. The filter diameter is the distance across the lens.
In-Built Memory (MB)	15

USB Port	Yes
Socket for connecting devices such as a computers and other components
WiFi	No
Wifi allows you to connect your device to wireless routers or modems which allows you to connect to broadband internet.

Also known as: CyberShot DSC-W300, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300, Sony Cyber-shot DSC W300, Sony DSC-W300, Cyber-shot DSC-W300

Digital Cameras Buyers' Guide

Photos taken with this camera

Manufacturer's Description

This point and shoot has it all – and then some. The DSC-W300 includes a wide range of convenient features, including Smile Shutter Mode which captures smiles the moment they happen. The compact and scratch-resistant titanium-coated body features an astounding 13.6 megapixel resolution, 2.7" Clear Photo LCD™ display, Carl Zeiss® 3x optical zoom lens, and Sony’s Double Anti-Blur solution for crisp, clear images. In addition, it has Face Detection technology that optimizes flash, focus, exposure and color for up to eight faces, as well as Intelligent Scene Recognition that automatically detects five different types of scenes and takes a picture with the optimal camera settings.

13.6 MP Super HAD™ CCD

More megapixels give you greater image definition so you can make big prints and tight crops without losing detail. The advanced Sony® Super HAD™ (Hole Accumulated Diode) CCD design allows more light to pass to each pixel, increasing sensitivity and reducing noise.

Carl Zeiss® 3X Optical Zoom Lens

Professional Carl Zeiss® lens with 3x optical zoom (35mm-105mm4) brings distant subjects closer for great outdoor, sports, and travel photos.

2.7” Clear Photo LCD Display

A large, bright 2.7” Clear Photo LCD™ display includes an anti-reflective coating that provides for excellent visibility to help you compose, view, and share photos with superb clarity and color reproduction, even in bright sunlight.

Anti-scratch Premium Titanium body

The titanium coating on the body is approximately five times harder than anodized aluminium-treated camera bodies, offers excellent protection from scratches while offering a premium look.

Face Detection

Face Detection technology recognizes up to 8 faces and automatically controls focus, exposure, white balance, and flash to help reveal faces in shadows, make skin tones look more natural, reduce red-eye, and eliminate harsh facial glare, so your photos bring out every expression on every face in every shot.
Smile Shutter

Smile Shutter™ technology captures smiles the moment they happen – without the need to press the shutter. The mode can be set to capture when your subject laughs, smiles or even grins, and like Face Detection is able to differentiate children and adults to set priority.

Sony Double Anti-Blur Solution

The combination of Super SteadyShot® optical image stabilization and high ISO sensitivity helps compensate for shaky hands, minimizes blur, and allow flash-free shooting to preserve the mood.

Super SteadyShot® optical image stabilization

Super SteadyShot® optical image stabilization compensates for shaky hands and minimizes blur with a built-in gyro sensor that detects camera movement and sends correcting signals to a stabilization lens — so there’s no need to crop in on your shot to reduce blur.

EXTRA High Sensitivity (ISO 3200) Mode

EXTRA High Sensitivity Mode (ISO 64006) helps reduce blur when shooting indoors or at twilight, even without flash, so you can capture great-looking images even in less-than-ideal lighting.

Intelligent Scene Recognition Mode

Intelligent Scene Recognition mode automatically detects 5 different types of scenes and selects the appropriate camera setting: Backlight, Backlight Portrait, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, and Twilight using aTripod. Intelligent Scene Recognition has two different modes, advanced and auto. Advanced mode takes two shots, one with the standard automatic settings and the other with optimized settings. Auto mode takes a single shot, using the camera’s intelligence to decide proper settings.

Dynamic Range Optimization Standard & Plus

Powered by the exclusive Sony BIONZ™ high-speed processing engine, Dynamic Range Optimization preserves image data in bright highlights and reveals more detail in shadows or backlit areas — for great results even in difficult lighting conditions.

Variable Noise Reduction

Variable Noise Reduction allows greater control over image characteristics with High, Low and Standard settings that let you select the optimal setting depending on the scene and your personal tastes.

Convenient Photo Modes

To adjust quickly for specific shooting situations, you can choose from several convenient photo modes, including Auto, Program Auto, Manual Exposure, and Scene Selections such as Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Fireworks, Smile Shutter, Underwater, Landscape, Soft Snap, Snow, High Sensitivity, Extra High Sensitivity (only 3 megapixel image), Extra High Speed Burst (only 3 megapixel image) and Beach environments.

MPEG Movie VX Fine Mode

Capture VGA (640 × 480) audio/video clips at a high frame rate (up to 30 frames per second7). The maximum length of time you can shoot continuously is about 10 minutes.

Automatic Macro Shooting

Standard Auto Focus now covers the macro focus range, eliminating the need to manually change focus modes for close-up photography. The Macro mode has not been eliminated, and enabling it accelerates Auto Focus when shooting at point-blank range.

9-Point Auto Focus

Because an off-center subject can make your shot more interesting, a 9-point auto focus measures auto-focus at 9 precision points instead of 5 — giving you greater creative freedom to compose your image.

Smart Zoom® Feature

The Sony Smart Zoom® feature intelligently “crops into” the central portion of interest in your photo, helping avoid the image degradation of other digital zooms.

EXTRA High-Speed Burst Mode

EXTRA High-Speed Burst Mode allows high-speed shooting of up to 5 fps, an especially useful feature useful for capturing fast action photographs of sports scenes, kids’ activities, and animals.

Color Mode “Real”

Color Mode “Real” helps enable faithful color reproduction by minimizing in-camera image processing — perfect for users who want to retouch their images after shooting.

Simple Setup Controls

A quick press of the Home button opens your user-friendly graphical interface — and you can select functions by simply moving a cursor vertically or horizontally to the appropriate icon. Function names and the on-screen Function Guide display make it easier to learn camera setup operations.

Easy Shooting Mode

A simplified camera environment especially attractive to beginners or digital camera users who want to keep things simple, Easy Shooting provides easy-to-read, on-screen instructions and limits the number of camera settings to help prevent misuse of the camera while still providing excellent results.

Function Guide

This beginner-friendly function helps manage various functions and settings by displaying the description of chosen functions or settings on the LCD screen. The Function Guide can also be switched off.

Optical Viewfinder

In addition to the LCD display, a built-in optical viewfinder lets you compose your photos in traditional rangefinder camera style, and also helps save battery power by turning off your LCD display.

15 MB Internal Memory

Even if you forget your flash memory card, you can get the shot because 15MB internal memory lets you capture a limited number of shots with in-camera convenience, then easily transfer your shots to a PC or optional Memory Stick Duo™ media, or Memory Stick PRO Duo ™.

Memory Stick Duo™ Media Convenience

A built-in slot accepts optional Memory Stick Duo™ media or Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media – the compact, high-capacity storage media that make it easily to upload photos to your PC and are compatible with millions of devices worldwide.

Stamina® Battery Power

Provides extended battery life and shooting capacity when using a fully charged Lithium Ion battery – enough to cover a long weekend or a whole vacation.

Easy Image Management

To help you find the right image among many, Date View and Favorites have been added to the standard Folder View. Date View displays a calendar view, while Favorites shows only user-selected images. Furthermore, you can filter photos by face types such as portrait, child, baby, and smile.

HDTV Compatibility

PhotoTV HD compatibility allows the camera to be connected to a PhotoTV HDcapable Sony BRAVIA™ HDTV via the optional HD output adaptor, for highly detailed, high-definition color images displayed in unprecedented realism and full HD quality. (All sold separately)

“PhotoTV HD”

PhotoTV HD compatibility allows the camera to be connected to a PhotoTV HD-capable Sony BRAVIA® HDTV via the optional HD output adaptor, for highly detailed, high-definition color images displayed in unprecedented realism and full HD quality. (All sold separately.)

16:9 High-Resolution Mode

In addition to the standard 2-megapixel size, the convenient 16:9 aspect ratio shooting mode for HDTV2 display can now be shot in 10-megapixels, making it possible to obtain beautiful, high-definition prints with the same aspect ratio as HDTV2.

Wide Zoom Display

To use the entire image area of the compatible HDTV3 screens, Wide Zoom automatically expands standard 4:3 and 3:2 images to 16:9.

PHOTOMUSIC

Expanding the HD Slide Show with Music feature3, PHOTOMUSIC combines images with music to produce fun and entertaining slide shows. The five standard visual effects (Simple, Basic, Nostalgic, Active and Stylish) have been supplemented with Face1: Basic, Face2: Nostalgic and Face3: Stylish for a total of eight effects. Additionally, the number of music tracks stored in the camera memory has been doubled from four to eight, and music playback time has been extended from three to five minutes per track. More personalized slide shows are also possible by transferring music from a PC to the camera.

In-Camera Retouching

Add creative effects to photos after you shoot using any of 10 retouching functions, including: Trimming, Red-Eye correction, Soft Focus filter, Unsharp Mask, Cross filter, Partial Color filter, Fish-eye filter, Retro, Radial Blur and Happy Face. The Happy Face effect uses photo retouching to put a smile on faces, with smile levels adjustable from 1 to 5.

In-Camera Red-Eye Correction

Irritating “glowing eyes” can ruin even the most creative photos, but in-camera red eye reduction corrects your photos at the touch of a button to reduce lingering red-eye effect that other systems might miss.

Multi-Resizing Function

Resize your photos in-camera for virtually any purpose! Any size picture images can be resized to widescreen 16:9 and 2 MP resolution for display on an HDTV. Conversely, high resolution, widescreen 16:9 images or any size picture can be resized to 4:3 size with VGA (640×480) resolution — perfect for sharing with friends and family via e-mail (internet connection required).

Picture Motion Browser Software

Supplied software makes it easier to upload, organize, and search photos on your PC. When shooting photos using your camera and an optional GPS unit, the software even provides a convenient map view function that lets you sort photos by location and display their origin on a world map.

BIONZ™

BIONZ™ image processor delivers speed and precision.